Gang-plow attachment



.(NoModel.) E. H.v FARMER.

l GANG PLOW ATTAGHMENT. No. 401,937. Patented Apr. 23, 1889.

UNITED nSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

""RDwARD I-I. FARMER, oF GILRoY, CALIFORNIA.

- GANG-PLOW ATTACHMENT.

SPECIFICA'JIONl forming part o f Letters Patent No. 401,937, dated April23, 1889.

Application filed January l1, 1889. Serial No. 296,093. (No model) To@ZZ whom it may concern;

. act description of the same.

My invention relates to an attachment for gang-plows; and it consists inthe constructions and combinations of devices, which I shall hereinafterfully describe and claim.

Referring to .the accompanying drawing for a more complete explanationof my invention, the gurerepresents the rear portion of a gang-plowframe, showing one of the plows, also the rear end of the lever by whichthe plows are raised out'of the ground, and the trailing wheel with myattachment.

A is the rear portion of the frame of a gangplow having any desirednumber of plows attached thereto, of which one is shown at B. Myattachment is shown as applied to what is known as the walkinggang-plow, h( ving a pair of wheels which support the front end of theframe, (not shown in the present drawing,) and a trailing wheel, C,journaled in a fork, D, the front end of which fork ,has avertical holemade through it, so that it may swivel upon the vertical shaft o1' postE. The'upper and lower ends of this post have arms which are securelybolted to the rear end of the plowbeam A, thus holdingthe vertical postrigidly in place, and the wheel and its frame are ordinarily allowed toturn or swivel loosely, so that while supporting the rear end of theplow-frame this wheel is allowed to turn freely when it is desired toturn the plows around.

My invention consists of a means for temporarily fixing this wheel atany desired angle with the line of travel of the plows. I

F is a standard the lower end of which is irm-ly secured within the forkD of the swivelwheel C by bolts, as shown at G. The upper end of thisstandard is bent, so that it extends in line above the post E, and uponthe upper end of the standard F is fixed the lever-arm with bolts, or inany other suitable manner, so as to be held firmly in place. In thepresent case I have shown it represented as a flat bar having holes madethrough it, and the lever II has a pin, J, projecting downward, so as tocor.-

respond with these holes and fall into any one Aholes in the rack-bar I.It will be manifest that this result might be obtained by the employmentof a set-screw, as shown at K, whereby the sleeve of the fork D, whichturns upon the post E, could be secured thereto temporarily; but thiswill be inconvenient, because it will be necessary to release the screwat the end of every furrow, or at the point where the plow would have toturn from a straight line, and I therefore prefer the arrangementpreviously described. In order to release this lever l-I whenever theplows are to be turned, I have shown a lever-arm, L, extendingtransversely across the plow-beam A and fulcrumed, as shown at M, sothat it may be easily moved up or down. The outer end of the lever-armextends beneath the lever H, as shown at N, and the opposite end of thearm extends beneath the lever O. This lever O is the one ordinarily usedupon this class of plows, and it extends forward and connects with theusual mechanism by which theplows are raised out of the ground when theend of a furrow is reached or whenever it is desired to turn the plowsaro und. The plows are raised out of the ground by simply depressing thelever O, which is done by the operator walking behind the plows, asshown in the dotted lines. This lever O then coming in contact with thetransverse lever L depresses it, and raising the outer end raises thelever H, so as to disengage the point J from the rack I, when theVst'vivel-wheel C will be left free to turn in the usual manner andwithout hinderance, s0 that it may take any angle with the plowframewhile the latter is being turned around.

This device is especially useful as an at- IOO taehnlent for gang-plowswhen plowing upon side hills, because by setting the wheel C so as totravel at an angle with the line of travel of the plows it acts to forcethe plows toward the land and counteract the tendency to slide down thehill and away from the land which is being plowed. This tendency is sogreat that ordinary gang-plows could notbe used to do this class ofwork.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The con1bination,in a gang-plow having a swivel rear wheel, of thefork D, the post E, secured to the plow-beam and forming the axis aboutwhich the fork turns, the standard F, secured to the fork and connectedwith the lever N, and the holdin g-raek, substantially as v whereby theswivel-wheel may be temporarily looked and prevented from turning andreleased so as to turn freely, and a lever for tripping the lockingdevices, substantially as described.

3. A gang of plows having the rear wheel swiveled thereto, a leverconnected with a swivel-wheel frame, and a rack and locking mechanismfor arresting the motion of the swivel-wheel, in combination with asecond lever fulcrumed upon the plow-beam, one end extendingbeneath theswivel-wheel lever and the other beneath the lever O, so as to beactuated thereby, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

EDWARD n. FARMER.

Witnesses:

JAS. C. ZUCK, Y JOHN S. FITZGERALD.

